Touch Base With Investors and High-Tech Space Spin-off Companies

BRUSSELS - The 3rd European Space Agency (ESA) Investment Forum will take
place near Brussels (Dolce La Hulpe) on the 7th of April 2009. It brings
together international investors specialised in seed and early stage funding,
looking for hot new ideas, with innovative fledgling high-tech companies, who
are seeking funds to get their business up and running.

Organised jointly by ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme
Office (TTPO) in collaboration with Europe Unlimited, the EC project KIS4Sat
and the European Business & Innovation Centre Network (EBN), the ESA
Investment Forum is a vehicle to propel new and exciting technology ventures,
which use space technology for different applications, fostering not only
innovation but ultimately also European industry.

A Selection of Start-Ups will present to Venture Capitalists

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and start-up
companies that base a significant part of their growth and competitive
advantage on the use of technologies originating from space (e.g. satellite
navigation) in non-space applications can apply to present their venture in
front of international investors.

“We will select the most promising start-ups out of all the
applicants, who will then get the opportunity to present their business to
the venture capitalist community,” explains Frank M. Salzgeber, Head of ESA’s
Technology Transfer Programme Office. 200 participants are expected, amongst
them entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporate representatives and
advisors. Up to 30 European high tech start-up companies will be selected to
present their innovative businesses, typically seeking series B-D financing.
One-to-one meetings between entrepreneurs and venture capitalists can be
pre-arranged in order to get a deeper insight into the respective companies’
business.

Application deadline for Investors is 27 March 2009

For more details on the ESA Investment Forum, please log onto:
www.e-unlimited.com/events/p200304/overview.asp

Website: www.esa.int/ttp

Source: European Space Agency

Are you a venture capitalist interested in participating? Contact Europe Unlimited for registration purposes: Myrna Rodriguez, Europe Unlimited, phone: +32-2-643-36-87, email: myrna at e-unlimited.com. Application deadline for Investors is 27 March 2009. For more details on the ESA Investment Forum, please log onto: https://www.e-unlimited.com/events/p200304/overview.asp . For further information, please contact: ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme Office, Frank M. Salzgeber, European Space Agency ESA - ESTEC, Keplerlaan 1, 2200 AG, Noordwijk ZH, The Netherlands, Phone: +31(0)71-565-6208, Fax: +31(0)71-565-6635, Email: ttp at esa.int.